Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, also known to us as UAVs, have already been in the centre of roboethics discussion for many years. But now, the discussion has expanded from voices of the academia and the public to the US government.

Brought to my attention by the Robot Ethics facebook group (Roger F. Gay), the following is a direct copy from the US Committee on Oversight and Government Reform website.

They provide links and documents, as well as webcasts of the first and second panel. (Link: Hearing on Rise of the Drones: Unmanned Systems and the Future of War)

“Rise of the Drones: Unmanned Systems and the Future of War”

WITNESS LIST

Panel I:

•Peter W. Singer, Ph.D., Director, 21st Century Defense Initiative, The Brookings Institution; author, Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century
•Edward Barrett, Ph.D. (Lt. Col., USAF), Director of Research, Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership, U.S. Naval Academy
•Mr. Kenneth Anderson, Professor, Washington College of Law, American University
•Mr. John Jackson (Captain, USN Ret.), Professor of Unmanned Systems, U.S. Naval War College
•Mr. Michael Fagan (Colonel, USMC Ret.), Chair, Unmanned Aerial Systems Advocacy Committee, Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International

Panel II

•Mr. Michael J. Sullivan, Director, Acquisition and Sourcing Management, U.S. Government Accountability Office
•Mr. Dyke Weatherington (Lt. Col., USAF Ret.), Deputy, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Planning Taskforce, Office of the Under Secretary for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, U.S. Department of Defense
•The Honorable Kevin Wolf, Assistant Secretary for Export Administration, Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce

To view a webcast of the first panel, click here

To view a webcast of the second panel, click here